Streaming LIVE X LIVE | 11 Tracks on the ’65 version [40:25]
Originally published 12/23/2020
Christmas time is here! Happiness and cheer.
Fun for all that children call, their favorite time of year
I don’t know about you, but Christmas music is not my favorite part of the season. But A Charlie Brown Christmas never fails to bring joy to my heart. The music is delicate. The few lyrics are sweet and pleasant. It doesn’t matter if you play it in the background or pipe it through your favorite headphones or earbuds and deliberately focus on the familiar melodies. Only one song doesn’t quite fit the mood of the rest of the album, and that’s Hark the Herald Angels Sing. Skip that one. The intro is heavenly but when the singing starts it’s time to move on…FAST! But continue to love the rest of them. Fur Elise is always so delicate. Greensleeves brings a tear to my eye (because that’s the song my parents chose for me). O Tannenbaum and My Little Drum still provide the traditional feel of Christmas caroling.
My favorites on this classic album are always going to be Linus and Lucy and Christmas Time Is Here. My childhood comes back in a flash and it fills me with emotion and happiness. As the piano keys dance across the eardrums and the melodies wind their way to your heart, you can’t help but relax and thank goodness that we survived another year. Nobody wants to hear any more about COVID but the best Christmas gift of all is that the vaccines have arrived, and next Christmas is more likely going to be the way we love it the most. Spending time travelling and with family and celebrating the coming of a new year.
We rapidly grow weary of the harshness that is many of the Christmas songs played ad nauseum. Religious songs might cause more guilt than gratitude for the Savior. Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer has lots it’s charm. Maria Carey drives many to consider homicide of radio station program directors and DJs who think it’s just so adorable. It isn’t. Burl Ives is a bit worn out. Feliz Navidad is the worst earworm song in history. They can all go away as Frosty melts.
Just give me a Charlie Brown Christmas tree. The kind my dad would bring home and my mother loved. And we will listen to Vince Guaraldi play the piano and decorate it.
A Charlie Brown Christmas eases us gently forward on a wave of nostalgia. It’s a special album and I’m grateful Live X Live has made it the Album of the Week so I could listen non-stop for days. It doesn’t seem right to give this album a score so I will pass on that. Merry Christmas Everyone!
The Poor Critic 